A LEADING heart charity is in desperate need of volunteers this Christmas to help raise funds for life saving research.

The charity hopes the people of the South West can lend an ‘elfing’ hand this winter by volunteering in their local British Heart Foundation (BHF) shop.

With Christmas being one of the busiest times of the year, the charity is calling on residents to donate their time to raise funds to help people living with heart and circulatory diseases.

Volunteers will be able to help with a wide range of tasks such as sorting donations, speaking to customers and creating festive window displays.

Linda Fenn, head of volunteering at the BHF, said: “Volunteering over the Christmas period is a fantastic way to give back to your local community and be part of a fantastic team. Without the generosity of our shop volunteers we wouldn’t be able to fund much of this life saving work.”

For details visit bhf.org.uk.